Update: Further reassurance to customers following London high-rise fire

whg is further reassuring customers about the safety of its high-rise buildings following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower in London.

We have 17 high-rise buildings in Walsall, which all conform to strict fire safety standards.

Following the fire in London, surveyors inspected all of whg’s high-rise blocks.

We are now reassuring customers that:

We have 24/7 CCTV that monitors each building – if a fire was to break out, colleagues in our CCTV control room will be able to communicate with customers via a tannoy system.

There is no ‘stay put’ policy in any of our buildings – we have clear signs in all of our buildings which tells people how they should escape if a fire breaks out.

We can confirm that where external thermal wrap is used in our high-rise buildings, it is fire resistant and complies with Building Regulation requirements for Fire Protection. It is a mineral material which is different from the polyurethane insulation used at Grenfell Tower in London. The external thermal wrap used in our high-rise buildings is different to the external thermal wrap used in Grenfell Tower so there has not been a requirement to test this. You can view this video which explains the fire resistance of the material we use.

Fire alarms have been tested in all blocks and they are all working correctly.

We have a strong working relationship with West Midlands Fire Service to make sure all of our homes are safe.

Gary Fulford, whg’s Group Chief Executive, said: “Following the tower block fire in London, we understand that customers will be concerned. We want to reassure them that we have strict fire safety measures in all our properties.

“We work very closely with West Midlands Fire Service to ensure that all of our homes are safe. The safety of our customers is our number one priority for whg at all times.

“Our thoughts remain with all those affected by the tragic incident in London.”